Nymphaea conardii is a species of waterlily native to the region spanning from Southern Mexico to tropical South America.
Description Vegetative characteristics Nymphaea conardii is an aquatic herb with ovoid, 4.5 cm wide rhizomes.Velásquez, J. (1994). "Plantas acuáticas vasculares de Venezuela." p. 102. Venezuela: Universidad Central de Venezuela, Consejo de Desarrollo Científico y Humanistico. The ovate-elliptical leaf blade is uniformly green, and it can reach up to 18 cm in length and 14 cm in width. The leaf venation is reticulate and dichotomous, with 9-15 primary veins. The leaf blade is attached to glabrous, max. 4 mm wide petioles with 2-4 primary and 4-6 secondary air canals. Generative characteristics The nocturnal flowers float on the water surface. The flowers have glabrous, non-brittle green peduncles with 5-6 primary, central air canals and 10-12 secondary, smaller, peripheral canals.de Lima, C. T., Machado, I. C., & Giulietti, A. M. (2021). "Nymphaeaceae of Brasil." Sitientibus série Ciências Biológicas, 21. The flowers have uniformly green, 3-6 cm long and 1-3 cm wide, oblong-ovate sepals with an slightly rounded or acute apex. The fruits are 1.5-1.7 cm long and 2.5-2.9 cm wide. The granulose, pilose, ellipsoid seeds have trichomes arranged in interrupted, longitudinal lines.Pellegrini, M. O. O. & Jardim Botânico do Rio de Janeiro. (n.d.). Nymphaea conardii Wiersema. Flora E Funga Do Brasil. Retrieved December 15, 2023, from https://floradobrasil.jbrj.gov.br/FB10940 The trichomes are 10–60 μm long.Bonilla-Barbosa, J., Novelo, A., Orozco, Y. H., & Márquez-Guzmán, J. (2000). "Comparative seed morphology of Mexican Nymphaea species." Aquatic Botany, 68(3), 189-204.
Cytology The diploid chromosome count is 2n = 28.Wiersema, J. H. (1987). A Monograph of Nymphaea Subgenus Hydrocallis (Nymphaeaceae). Systematic Botany Monographs, 16, 1–112. https://doi.org/10.2307/25027681
Reproduction Vegetative reproduction It is stoloniferous, but only in a brief period in which the tubers resume growth. Proliferating pseudanthia are absent. Generative reproduction Autogamy is possible, as the stigma retains its female function in the second day, when the pollen is released, thus enabling self-fertilization.Wiersema, J. H. (1988). Reproductive Biology of Nymphaea (Nymphaeaceae). Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden, 75(3), 795–804. https://doi.org/10.2307/2399367 The seed dispersal is hydrochorous (i.e. water-dispersed) or ornithochorous (i.e. bird-dispersed).Madriñán, S., Rial, A., Bedoya, A. M., Fernández, M. (2017). "Plantas acuáticas de la Orinoquia colombiana." p. 28. Kolumbien: Universidad de los Andes.
Taxonomy Publication It was first described by Wiersema in 1984.
Type specimen The type specimen was collected on the 29th of August 1981 by J.H. Wiersema and A. Gonzalez from a pond in the Sosa Municipality of Barinas, Venezuela.Nymphaea conardii | International Plant Names Index. (n.d.). Retrieved December 15, 2023, from https://www.ipni.org/n/281432-2
Placement within Nymphaea It is placed in Nymphaea subg. Hydrocallis.Wiersema, J. H. (1984). Systematics of Nymphaea subgenus Hydrocallis (Nymphaeaceae). I. Four New Species from the Neotropics. Brittonia, 36(3), 213–222. https://doi.org/10.2307/2806510 It is closely related to Nymphaea gardneriana, Nymphaea glandulifera, and Nymphaea jamesoniana.Borsch, T., Hilu, K. W., Wiersema, J. H., Löhne, C., Barthlott, W., & Wilde, V. (2007). Phylogeny of Nymphaea (Nymphaeaceae): Evidence from Substitutions and Microstructural Changes in the Chloroplast trnT‐trnF Region. International Journal of Plant Sciences, 168(5), 639–671. https://doi.org/10.1086/513476
Etymology The specific epithet conardii honours the botanist Henry Shoemaker Conard (1874 - 1971).
Conservation Nymphaea conardii is considered to be vulnerable (VU) in Cuba.Urquiola Cruz, A. J., González-Oliva, L., Novo Carbó, R. (2010). "Libro rojo de la flora vascular de la provincia Pinar del Río." p. 447. Spanien: Universidad de Alicante.
Ecology Habitat It inhabits flooded savannas, shallow lagoons, and Morichales associated with still water (i.e. wetlands characterized by the presence of the moriche palm Mauritia flexuosa) at elevations of 0-200 m above sea level. It is also found in ponds and temporary ditches. Pollination It is pollinated by beetles.
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